Ally McCoist has hit out after it was revealed that historic shares held by Rangers in Arsenal were sold by Craig Whyte.

With Rangers in administration, negative stories about the regime presided over by Whyte as owner have emerged on a daily basis. The latest revelation centres on Whyte selling the Arsenal shares, which formed a link between the clubs dating back to 1910, for £230,000 to the Russian businessman Alisher Usmanov's Red & White Holdings. Those funds were not even paid into Rangers' own bank account.

Rangers came to Arsenal's aid during a financial crisis, buying two shares at the time. Twenty years later the London club handed Rangers 14 shares for free in gratitude for their help, cementing a relationship between the two clubs.

McCoist said: "I'm extremely disappointed in some of the things unfolding – not least the situation with the Arsenal shares. That's a particularly sore one for a Rangers supporter. I don't think me voicing any opinions at this moment in time – pointing fingers of blame or saying this, that or the other – is going to help anybody.

"With that in mind I'll keep my own counsel on my own views. But selling the Arsenal shares was a really sore one. Something like that is your history, your heritage. Not only that, it's a great story between the two football clubs. So that was really sad."

When asked his views on the fact that funds raised by selling a portion of Rangers' future season ticket income were used to pay off an £18m debt to Lloyds Bank, as part of the Whyte takeover, McCoist added: "It came as a shock to me but not a surprise. The longer the process was going, everybody was pointing in that direction."

McCoist said he would welcome a meeting with Whyte for clarity on a number of issues. There has been no contact between the pair since Rangers entered administration. "I might get the opportunity to do that. I don't know what the future holds," the manager added. "It's not just me. Every Rangers supporter and member of staff all deserve answers to questions.

"I would like to find out an awful lot of things and I'm not even sure Craig would have the answers to all the questions. We are asking the administrators a lot of questions at the moment, as you can imagine, and they are doing their level best to answer them. But a lot of them they can't answer at the moment.

"Hopefully one day we can sit down, whether it's with the administrators, Craig or the previous board, and get the full story. That would be what everybody would want. Whether we get it or not, I don't know. But I think everyone deserves it."

McCoist reiterated, then, his support for the Scottish FA's investigation into events at Rangers since Whyte took over last May. "I would encourage any investigation of any description by anybody that will clarify what's happened at our football club and help us move forward," he said.

Administrators from Duff & Phelps are due to confirm next week what level of staff cuts, if any, will be necessary at Ibrox. Senior Rangers players have asked what cost-cutting measures are required – they could yet offer to defer or take a drop in wages – but have been given no specific figures.

"I haven't been told that people have to go," McCoist said. "There are one or two options and ideas. As yet I haven't been told names or specific bodies that have to go. It's still a possibility and the situation will be clearer in the next few days."